Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and s

An essential issue in obstetrics is the prevalence of maternal and fetal complications in pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of pregnancy complications among various phenotypes of pregnant women with PCOS.

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most frequently observed malignancy in females worldwide. Today, tamoxifen (TAM) is considered as the highly effective therapy for treatment of breast tumors. Oxidative stress has implicated strongly in the pathophysiology of malignancies. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the levels of oxidants and antioxidants in patients with newly diagnosed and TAM-treated BC. Sixty newly diagnosed and 60 TAM-treated women with BC and 50 healthy volunteers were included in this study. Parameters including total oxidant capacity (TOC), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and catalase (CAT) activity were determined before and after treatment with TAM. The serum levels of TOC and oxidative stress index (OSI) were

The tagged research (realism in the Paintings of Iraqi Kurdistan artists, “a study of expression methods”) dealt with realism in an objective way, as well as the complexity of its concepts through its formations and formations. On realism and its historical dimension in concept and meaning, as for the second chapter, the research was focused on the methods of expression in painting, while the third chapter was concerned with the procedural applications of realistic methods of expression in the drawings of Iraqi Kurdistan, and according to these axes and to achieve the goal of the research, a number of Among the results are:
1- Realism documented the life of the Kurdish society in line with the developments of the era, as the sty

The present study attempts to examine verbal/nonverbal impoliteness in the classroom interaction and outside it in one of the movies, namely, The Marva Collins. Impoliteness, which is significantly studied within pragmatics, is a negative attitude towards particular behaviors. It always presumes to have emotional concerns for at least one participant who has caused it. This study is an attempt to examine verbal/nonverbal impoliteness in The Marva Collins movie. The study aims to investigate the different types of impoliteness strategies used in the four selected scenes and find out whether the speaker’s status has anything to do with the types of impoliteness. Besides, the functions performed are also examined by following a qual

A recently reported Nile red (NR) dye conjugated with benzothiadiazole species paves the way for the development of novel organic-based sensitizers used in solar cells whose structures are susceptible to modifications. Thus, six novel NR structures were derived from two previously developed structures in laboratories. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) calculations and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) were used to determine the optoelectronic properties of the NR-derived moieties such as absorption spectra. Various linkers were investigated in an attempt to understand the impact of π-linkers on the optoelectronic properties. According to the findings, the presence of furan species led to the planarity of the molecule and a reduction

            Felodipine is a calcium-channel blocker with low aqueous solubility and bioavailability. Lipid dosage forms are attractive delivery systems for such hydrophobic drug molecules. Nanoemulsion (NE) is one of the popular methods that has been used to solve the dispersibility problems of many drugs. Felodipine was formulated as a NE utilizing oleic acid as an oil phase, tween 80 and tween 60 as surfactants and ethanol as a co-surfactant. Eight formulas were prepared, and different tests were performed to ensure the stability of the NEs, such as particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, dilution test, drug content, viscosity and in-vitro drug release. Result

The objective of the study was to develop microneedle (MN) patch, with suitable properties to ensure the delivery of a therapeutic level of lornoxicam (LXM) in a period suitable to replace parenteral administration in patients, especially those who fear needles. The used polymers were cold water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) of low molecular weight with PEG 400 as plasticizer and Tween 80 (to enhance the release) using micro molding technique. Patches were studied for needle morphology, drug content, axial fracture force measurement and drug release while the optimized formulas were further subjected to pH measurement, folding endurance, ex vivo permeation study, histopathology study, stability study and

Information pollution is regarded as a big problem facing journalists working in the editing section, whereby journalistic materials face such pollution through their way across the editing pyramid. This research is an attempt to define the concept of journalistic information pollution, and what are the causes and sources of this pollution. The research applied the descriptive research method to achieve its objectives. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The findings indicate that journalists are aware of the existence of information pollution in journalism, and this pollution has its causes and resources.